Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Creative Work's Effect on Ads

Mike Bendixen, in a research entitled "Advertising effects and effectiveness", argues that the creative work has no effect on the magnitude of an advertising campaign; as the latter is only affected by the frequency of use of the medium in question.

As I stop to assimilate his research findings, I cannot help but pause thoughtfully. If indeed creativity does not in any way compensate on frequency; how can smaller campaigns, at times, get better response?

I would have to disagree in parts to the way the finding is presented. "Magnitude" by definition refers to the size. Thus obviously we are talking about frequency and reach. However, the way I see it, good creative work helps support the campaign in magnitude too, and is not merely a tool that dictates the efficiency of the campaign, as Bendixen seems to put it.

How? A good creative work stimulates the brain. It can be humor, it can be shock, simply beauty or even creativity. Whatever it is, it increases the magnitude exponentially as it is bound to create word of mouth.

Thus, I would not go against what has been stated by Bendixen. The magnitude within the medium in question is not affected by the creative work. Yes. The same medium will not multiply simply because the work is good. However, the medium will shift to incorporate other mediums which consequently would create a greater magnitude.

There, lies the beauty of marketing, the art of efficiently allocating budgets to maximize return by juggling not only the financials but also the qualitative.